Man accused of selling bridge metal seeks dismissal

HAMMOND — A northwestern Indiana scrap-metal dealer accused of demolishing a historic bridge and selling the metal is seeking to have the federal charge he faces dismissed.

Kenneth Morrison argues in a motion filed Monday in federal court in Hammond that questions about who owned the bridge warrant his indictment being tossed.

Morrison operates T&K Metals in Whiting. He was charged in 2017 with interstate transportation of stolen property for allegedly taking metal from a long-unused 1910 railroad drawbridge and selling it to an Illinois scrapyard for $18,000.

The Post-Tribune reports Morrison’s attorney says investigators told a grand jury the city of Hammond “conclusively” owned the bridge, but that public records and correspondence between the city and a railroad company showed they couldn’t say for certain who had the bridge’s deed.